Nine boats damaged in Mission Beach fire

The four boats destroyed by fire Monday night at the Mission Bay Yacht Club were taken to the Driscoll Mission Bay Boat Yard where the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department and Coast Guard will conduct their investigation as well as at the Mission Bay Yacht Club. Five additional boats were also damaged.
— Howard Lipin

The four boats destroyed by fire Monday night at the Mission Bay Yacht Club were taken to the Driscoll Mission Bay Boat Yard where the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department and Coast Guard will conduct their investigation as well as at the Mission Bay Yacht Club. Five additional boats were also damaged.
— Howard Lipin

San Diego  A raging fire at the Mission Bay Yacht Club in Mission Beach destroyed four boats and damaged five others Monday night.

The blaze, reported about 9:15 p.m. at the end of El Carmel Place, is estimated to have caused $1.25 million in damage to the boats and another $50,000 to the dock, said San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokesman Maurice Luque.

Firefighters, aided by lifeguard boats and a fire helicopter from above, had the flames knocked down in about 45 minutes.

Two 45-foot yachts, a 42-foot yacht and a 30-foot sailboat tied up in slips at one end of the club near the office were a total loss.

Five other vessels in the water nearby suffered varying degrees of damage, Luque said. On one of those boats, the fiberglass had bubbled and melted.

“At least it’s still floating,” said former club commodore Doug Swenson.

Chunks of charred debris also were scattered around the deck.

Swenson and fellow club member David White Jr. were at the club Tuesday morning surveying the damage.

The four destroyed boats had been towed away after the fire to a yard on Shelter Island. The dock, which the club had just rebuilt, was left blackened and charred, and light posts and hoses had melted.

White said he got a call Monday night from a friend about the fire and came down to see what was going on.

By the time he arrived, firefighters had most of the flames out and a tower of smoke was going straight up into the sky “like a chimney,” he said.

White said the boat at the end of the slip had nearly sunk and was sitting about 18 inches above the water.

The boat next to it had recently been restored and was one of the club’s most beautiful yachts, White said.

Neither White nor Swenson, whose boats were not damaged, had talked to the owners of the affected boats, but White said they had all been notified.

There were 170 to 200 other vessels in the water near where the fire occurred, White said.

The cause of the fire has still not been determined, Luque said.

The area was searched Monday night after authorities received reports that a flare had been fired, but it was unknown if it was connected to the blaze, Luque said.